The real-life dog behind memecoin DOGE is seriously ill

Kabosu, the Shiba Inu dog behind the face of Dogecoin (DOGE) and the “doge” meme is in a “dangerous position” healthwise, according to her owner.

In a Dec. 26 Instagram post that was then shared on Twitter, Atsuko Satō, a Japanese kindergarten teacher and Kabosu’s owner, said in Japanese that the rescue dog was in a “dangerous” state, but assured her followers that the canine will be “absolutely fine” and is “getting power from all over the world” from supporters.

The news brought an outpouring of support. One Twitter user sending well wishes offered to fully cover “any expenses needed to make sure she gets the best treatment.”

The co-creator of Dogecoin, Billy Markus,  asked his two million followers in a Dec. 26 tweet to send “[love] and [prayers] and good vibes” to Satō and Kabosu.

doge (kabosu) is sick 🙁 please send her and @kabosumama your ❤️ and and good vibes ~ pic.twitter.com/8IqnYWFhWN

— Shibetoshi Nakamoto (@BillyM2k) December 26, 2022

Satō didn’t disclose what health complications Kabosu is facing, but in an earlier post said that Kabosu has been sick since Christmas Eve, refusing to eat or drink.

It should be noted that Shiba Inu dogs have an average life expectancy of between 12 to 15 years and Kabosu celebrated her 17th birthday earlier in 2022.

A picture of Kabosu from Satō’s blog in 2010 inspired the viral “doge” meme format.

Eventually, the popularity of the meme sparked the 2013 creation by Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer of what’s considered the first “meme coin,” Dogecoin, which the pair said they created as a joke.

Kabosu is a popular figure in the crypto world, with Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin also visiting Kabosu and Satō in their Tokyo apartment in 2018.

Dogecoin remains popular

Despite being created as a joke, Dogecoin remains hugely popular within the crypto world nearly 10 years after it was first created. 

DOGE is the 8th largest coin with its nearly $10.4 billion market capitalization according to CoinGecko data and saw a volume of over $332 million in the last 24 hours.

Related: Turkey has an obsession with crypto — Specifically Dogecoin: Study

Dogecoin was the second-most searched crypto on Google behind Bitcoin (BTC), averaging 5.85 million monthly worldwide searches in 2022.

Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter had many Dogecoin users hopeful that he would integrate DOGE on the social media platform causing the price to rally on the news.

Musk has been a longstanding proponent of Dogecoin and at one point, before admitting it wouldn’t be feasible, planned to charge Twitter users 0.1 DOGE to post on the platform in a bid to cut down on scam posts.

Dogecoin has sparked a variety of similar dog-themed cryptocurrencies such as Shiba Inu (SHIB), Dogelon Mars (ELON), and Floki (FLOKI), which was inspired by Musk’s Shiba Inu, Floki.